Gas water heater



V. MAUCK GAS WATER HEATER Jan 6, 1931.

Original Filed Nov. 24

, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 11/.

V/cron MAl/GK,-

V. MAUCK GAS WATER HEATER I Jan 6, 1931.

24, 1924 z-snets-sheet 2 Original Filed Nov.

uuuuu l. IIIII Z Ma Patented Jan. 6, 1931 era The PA T OF ES I I vrc'ronivmucmor Mun-Ion, rENNsYLvANIA' GAs WATER HEATER Original application filed November 24,

' This is a division of my application Serial No. 752,037, filed November 24, 1924, for Letters Patent of the United States, for improvement in thermostatically controlled 5 gas water heaters, which includes claims for,

the general construction of the combustion chamber herein disclosed; the claims in this case being laid to the means for presenting the water tobe heated in a hollow body termed a waterspreader supported above and in cooperative relation with a subjacent gas burner. a 4

As hereinafter described, my inventlon is embodied in a heater-adapted to be included in a'house water supply system and comprising a container which isa hot water reservoir; constructed and arrangedto automatically I regulate andmaintain a predetermined temperature of the water stored'in said reservoir, by varying the supply of gas to a burner 1naccordance withthe temperature of the water in the reservoir; reducingthe flow to the minimum when the water reaches such prede: termlned temperature.

and arrangement of said spreader are such as to induce a very rapid circulation otthe Water 'inthe reservoir to. effect correspond: ingly rapid heating thereof.

"In the heater hereinafter described, said water reservoircontainer has a combustion container; and the spreader is-directly at tached to the bottom of the water container chamber at the bottom'thereof with a flue leading to the outer atmosphere throughthe features of construction and arrangement I herein set forth.

p In said drawings; Fig. I is a plan view of a, gasgwate'r heater conveniently embodying my invention. i

Fig; II is a vertical sectional View of said heater,taken on'the-line II,'II in Fig. I.

The construction" Fig. III isga plan view of the I spreader which is indicated in Figs. I and II.

F IV is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of saidspreader and afragmentary portionof the diaphragm in-the heater shell with which it is connected, which forms the bottom'closure of the water reservoirand the top of said combustion chamber.

In said figures; the water container comprisesthe cylindrical metal shell 1, having the cold water inlet 2 and hot water outlet 3 at the top thereof, and the combustionchamber 5 at the bottom'thereof. The'di'aphragmfi forms the-bottom closure ofthe water space 7 in saidcontainer 1, and the top :of said combustion chamber; The flue 10 has its lower 1924, Serial No. 752,037. Divided anrl this application filed April 26, 1928. Serial No. 272,936. i

end connected'with saiddiaphragmt, and

extends to the outer atmosphere, through said watericontainer, parallel with, but eccentric to, the axis of said container shell 1.

The hollow oblate water spreader 11 is mounted in eccentric relation with said diaphragm 6 and extending'below the latterin said combustion chamber having at its upper port on, 1n coaxial relation, an externally screw threaded neckl flange 13 extending.

in a corresponding opening surrounded by the flange 14 in said diaphragm 6. Said spreaderjhas, incoxial relation therewith,

but eccentric to said container,"the socket 15,

engaged with the lower endof the' hot water riser'pipe 16Wl1lel1 terminates inspaced re lation with the top of said containershellil Said spreader also has two diametricallyspaced cold water: inlet f nozles 1 7, at jre specti-vely opposite sides ofsaid socket 1'5. and in communication with. the water space 7 through said spreader neck 13. p v Said inlet noZles are: preferably; disposed in parallel. relatioiiwith each other andwith the axisof f'said riser "pipe 16; as'snch construction and arrangement have-"been found to facilitate the circulation of the,waterfromand to said water space 7. The water-heated insaid spreader tends to; cir .cul'ate therein in the direction of 'thecar'rows as the result of its, expansion by theheat5 and the parallel yarrangement of said: inlets tends toffacili tate that direction of flow by directing the cold water to-the bottom otthe spreader im'a mediatelyadjoining the axis of the latter. It

' was found in practice that when said nozles 17 were disposed in downwardly diverg- 1ng relation the cold water issued therefrom in a current opposed to the natural upward currentof the hot water and retarded the circulation aforesaid.

.The water drain pipe 18 extends from the bottom of said. spreader. llvto the exterior of said combustion chambe'rh' where it is provided with the'drain cock 19, through which sediment may be withdrawn from said spreader. The collar 20'encircles said drain:

pipe 18, and; is' provided with they setscrew 21' to secure it in adjusted position. The

.gas burner includes the hollow horseshoerelation with saidcontainer land combusshaped body 23, having the radially extending cross bars-24 forming axial bearings 25 embracing said drain pipe 18 and resting upon said collar 20. The mixing tube 26 extends from said burner body 23 in eccentric tangential relation thereto but in diametrioal tion chamber 5, as bestshowninFigj I, and

" isslip fittedjove'r "the" gas supply'tube 27. The arrangement is such that said burner may bereadily ithdrawnand replaced lat-' erally With respect to said pipe 18and collar 20 which support'ait, and II, said 'mixing tube 26 is enlarged at its outer'endand provided With the restricted air inlet'28 at the bottom thereof.

The gas conduit 30 leading to said burner 23 has the automatically,thermostatically,

operative valve 31, arranged tocontrol it in accordance with the expansion and contraction of a thermostatic element in the tube 16, and .saidvalve 31 and tube 32' are detachably'connected with" said container shell 1 erative stop cock 34,-leadingto*said conduit- 27, between saidautomatic valve-31 and said burner 23; and also toprovid'e 'themanuall'yf 32, which is rigidly connected with said Valve. Although any suitable formof said valve 31 may be employed; that-indicated is aspe'cific form claimed by Arthur-E. Paige, in LettersP'atent of the United States No.-

1,542,573, granted June 16, 1925'. l

Said tube 32 extends diametricallyin the water'space 7 insaid container'shell 1, be tween said flue loand hot water riser pipe by'the' screw thread on the valve casing en-' gaging the spud 33 in said shell.

I also find it'convenient-"to' provide said gas {supply conduit 30 With the manually op"- operativeneedle valve 3'5finsaid conduit 27 between said stop; cocli'34' a nd said birrner 23 in cooperative relation-with an inlet port in the 'nozle .36 which is-detachablyconnect; ed; with said conduit 27,:incox1'al relation with said mixin tube-26. r

Itis to be un erstood that' said stopcock 34, may be manually opened or closed, to

either permit; or prevent the passage of gas through said automatically, ther'mosta-tical As shown inFigs. I

said-noz 'zle 36 directlyto the burner.

The'heater chosen for illustration is of the t-ypeswherein a considerable volume of hot water is stored and normally maintained at a predetermined temperature, say 170 F; as distinguished from heaters which have a minimum storage capacity and depend for their elliciency upon rapid heating. of a minimum quantity of water upon demand. Therefore, it is importantto-con: serve all of the heat-generated by combustion of the at said burner 23, sofas'to minimize the quantity required Therefore, I provide theheat insulating casing for saidv container and combustionchamber, and including the exterior shell 38,: in concentric spaced relation with said container shell 1, and a refractory porous lining 39 for the same, which may be conveniently formed of involutely' Wrapped primarily plane sheets ofrorrugaued asbestos paper, which form a cylinder filling the space between said concentric cylindrical shells '1 and 38 as indicated in Fig. II. Saidheatinsulating casing includes the metallic top cover 40 having the refractory lining 41 which maybe convenien-tlyformed of the same material as the lining 39. Saidcasing shell 38 is also provided with the base cover, 42 havingthe' opening 43- in coaxial relation with said water-container shell l; affording access to the combustionchamber 5 to permit the operator to adj ustand clean-said burner 23.

. However, if the burner 23 remained thus exposed; aconsiderable volume and pressure of gas would be required to maintain the. burner lightedywhereas, I find that the desired temperature of thestol Cl Water can bemaintained by the combustion of gas at such a slow rate that it would be impossible to thereby continuously maintain the flames 44 at said burner, if the latterwere exposed to any directfair draft. Therefore, Iprovide a heat insulating closure for said opening 43,f including-the annular metal frame: 45 containing the lining 146- cf porous refractory material, conveniently such as above described. Said lining may be formed in semicircular sections, 'asindicated-in Fig. 'I, to

facilitate its application andremoval with respect to .said pipe 18.- .Said closure 45 is detachably connectediwith said base42 by. the clip. 48 which isfstationary 'upon said casing cover 42, and the slide catch 49 which is mounted to reciprocate; through the sta- 'tionary bight 50 upon said casing cover 42,

diametrically opposite to said clip48. Said base 42 has flanged plates 52 welded thereon to detachably engagethe legs 53, by their respective wedge lugs 54. 4

It may be observed that the construction and arrangement above described are such that the space in said combustion chamber- 5 is substantially secluded from the outer atmosphere, by a porous medium excluding all forceful air drafts from said burner 23. The air necessary for combustion 18 let in to said chamber 5,-only through the minute pores of said lining 46 and interstices at the junctions of said closure with said outer casing cover 42; so that small flames 44 may be continuously maintained upon said burner 23 in an atmosphere in which the movement of airis thus so diffused and controlled as to prevent extinction ofsuch flames.

Said heater mechanism 1 operates as follows: Said catch 49 being withdrawn and said bottom closure 45 removed, by lowering it upon the pipe 18'from theposition shown.

mo static element 32, affected and effected by changes in the temperature of the waterin the container chamber? more or less gas is permitted to pass through said supply conduit 30 and thevalve 34 and around the valve 35 to said'burner 23 to heat the water in'said spreader. Owing to the oblate form of said spreader '11, the hot water rises with in it to the top thereof and flows upwardly through the riser 16 into said container chamber 7; displacing a corresponding volume of cold water which flows downwardly through said spreader neck '13 and nozles 17 into contact with the hot lower wall of said spreader, thus circulating the water from said container 1 through said spreader until the desired temperature thereof -is reached and maintained. V

. Ofcourse, said thermostatically controlled valve 31 is operated togradually diminish the volume of gas permitted to pass therethrough in accordance with the rise in temperature of the water in said space .7, until the minimum is reached which will maintain the desired temperature of the stored water under normal conditions. Under such conditions, the gas flames 44 remain continuously lighted at said burner 23 although they fluctuate in height in accordance with the volume of gas being consumed which, of} course, depends upon the rate 'at whichwater such seclusion.

ass ts-0111x116 space 7 "with consequent lowering of the temperature thereof by the influx of cold water through the pipe 2; It: may-be observed that the latter terminates immediately above said thermostatic'element '32so that; the latter is instantly afi'ected'byinflowing cold water. i? i n: orler, 'orem ovesaid burner 23 with out removal of any'of the pipe connections," it is only necessary to I shift it to the left in Fig/II far enough to release the outer end of the mixing tube 26'f-rom the gas supply tube 27 Said burner. may then be partly turnedaround said drain =pipe'l8 and withdrawn fromthe-latter;.-

Although I prefer to conserve the heat in the container and combustion chamber by means of, metal members lined with porous refractory material, as above described, and

claimed in my copending application afore-' said any: suitable heat insulating means may be employedlia i .Itw is. the ordinary p water heaters with substantially large openings through which the outer atmosphere may freely communicate with the space-in which -wcombustionis" affected, upon the theory. that such provision for large volumes of inflowing airis essential "for the proper operation of a gasburner; A s far'asI am aware, itxisentirely novelandoriginal with myself to-secludezsuch a burner in a chamber fro-'ni whichthe outer atmosphere is excluded as above described, regardless of whether is attained by. refractory means or not." Suchlcombustion chambers are claimed inxmy copendingapplication Serial-:No..752,037 a'foresaidt I Moreover, it is the usual' practice to provide the mixing tubes: leadingto gas burners with .aseriesbf air inlets encircling :the gas inlet; upon I the. theory. that such an arrangement'. is necessaryor desirable to facilitate the mixture of the air with the gas.

ever, the volume and rate of flow of gas in Howautomatically thermostatically controlled valve to be delivered through the burner and ture being that means are provided to herractice toprovide gas V Mfr . eon a restricted air inlet 28 only at the bottom thereof prevented such escape and waste of gas and'causediall of the gas passed bythe I metieally elos' the mix-ingqtube around; the

' arrangement hereinset forth; aslit is obvious gas" inlet, exce t for a restrieted. air" inlet belowthe gasklnlet, and it'may' bes observed? that-said air inlet is at; a greater. distance from the: jet'orificesiirrthe:topoftheburner 7 Such V-burners are" than. said gas" inlet; claimed in my copending ,appllc'ation Serial No. 272,937; filed April 26, 1928," for Letters Patent "of'the-United States.

7 Therefore, Idd not: desire to limit myself;

to the precisedetailsof construetionfand that. various. modifications may be 'made therein \vitliout'departing from the essential features of my inventi0n,.-as defined in the,

appendedclaims. I ela'im'if Y k '1. An article of manufacti1re,a consisting, of a single, hollow metaleastmg adapted to, form a water spreaderiln awaterrheater and having a single cold Water inlet in the top projecting into 'tlie hollow of saidlbo'dy thereof merging into'a pluralityef nozles parallel with the: axis thereofland arsingle' hot water outlet'in coaxial'relation With said body and between said nozles; l

2. An article" of manufacture, consisting 7 ofa single'hollovs metal casting adapted to le-l. with the axis 'thereof," and a: single-hot i for-InaWater-sprea'derin a Water beaten-and; having a single cold" water mletin the-top thereof merging-into a plurality of nozles projecting into the hollow ofs'aid-body'paral;

Watenoutlet inv coaxial relation withv said body: and between said nozles, the upper. ends-0f the waterpass'ages to said nozles being dppositely inclined towardfthe axis-'of 7 said inlet, and ofless radial extent .frornsaid axis thanfiheil'ower ends; of said nozles;

In" testimony: whereof-,- I' have; hereunto signed my name; at Conshohoeken; PennsyL vania this eighteenth day of February, 1928.: j m VICTOR MAUCK." 

